Trauner's rendering for the office set in The Apartment (1960)

Born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary). Renowned influential art director, a key figure of the French poetic realism movement, which began in the mid-1930s. Trauner apprenticed under Lazare Meerson and worked with director René Clair on his famous early sound musical comedies, notably the satire of industrialization in the city, À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ (1931). Trauner espoused a studio-bound aesthetic, producing textured, finely detailed sets that subtly highlighted both the naturalism and the claustrophobic -- indeed, existential -- pessimism of such Marcel Carné classics of poetic realism as PORT OF SHADOWS (1938) / QUAI DES BRUMES and LE JOUR SE LEVE (1939) / DAYBREAK. During the German Occupation, though Jewish, Trauner managed to work uncredited on such films as Carné's somber fable LES VISITEURS DU SOIR (1942) / THE DEVIL'S ENVOYS and the masterful 19th century period epic CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) / LES ENFANTS DE PARADIS. In both cases the look of Trauner's style linked the films -- both read as allegories of resistance to the Nazis -- with earlier moments in poetic realism, while at the same time suggesting the whimsical lightness of Clair and a great flair for dramatic fantasy. Trauner continued his penchant for working on intense films whose cathartic sadness rises to the level of tragedy when he created the stunning, baroque designs for Orson Welles's OTHELLO (1952). Later, at the invitation of Billy Wilder, he moved to Hollywood, where he continued to explore the tensions between simplicity and stylization, realism and fantasy, often as filtered through the sensibilities of city life. Notable collaborations with Wilder include the romanticized Paris of LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957), the gritty New York of THE APARTMENT (1960), the garishly Technicolored, sensuously stylized Paris of IRMA LA DOUCE (1963) and the moody mausoleum look of FEDORA (1978). Trauner also enjoyed enjoyed extended working relationships with Fred Zinnemann (THE NUN'S STORY, 1959), Joseph Losey (MR. KLEIN, 1977, THE TROUT, 1982), Claude Berri (TCHAO PANTIN, 1983) and Bertrand Tavernier ('ROUND MIDNIGHT, 1986). Fortunately, his durability and adaptability to both a variety of themes and diverse working environments led to a renaissance of critical esteem and professional work, and the aging master was even more prolific in the 1980s than he had been in the 30s and 40s. Visit the Internet Movie Database for a full listing of Trauner's production design and art department credits.  Art Direction/Set Decoration (Black & White) 1960: THE APARTMENT - Art Direction  Nominated for Art Direction/Set Decoration 1975: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING - Art Direction (w. Tony Inglis) 2 nominations, 1 Award